SAMARAHAN: When it comes to seeking business opportunities in Sarawak, investors have been advised to look at areas emphasised by the state government.
“The state budget is biased towards rural development. That is where our wealth is — rural areas,” advised Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) president Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg.
He said this when presenting a keynote speech at the 1st International Conference on Belt and Road (ICBR) 2020 at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Samarahan Campus 2 yesterday.
He pointed out that the state government had made significant allocations for infrastructure.
“This means there are business opportunities for contractors, subcontractors, consultants, material suppliers, and so on,” said Abang Abdul Karim.
He said another sector being emphasised by the state government was tourism, which would benefit many, including hotels owners, restaurants, food producers, and those in the transportation industry.
According to the Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) president, another promising sector was manufacturing as there were many things Sarawak could process due to its abundant resources.
“Sarawak is very new in this. We have a lot to learn. Thus, we need to collaborate and seek advice from overseas — China, for instance,” he said, adding that China’s modern technology could benefit the state.
“Many local products and resources need to be developed using technology, meaning there is a lot of room for research and development here,” he said, adding that there were many business opportunities in Sarawak, but the problem was that many were unsure how to make full use of the state’s abundant resources — except for sectors such as oil and gas which were already very developed.
